Absorbent pads have been used commercially to improve fluid containment during fluid surge or large quantity of urine discharge experienced by incontinent persons. The term “absorbent pad” as used herein is intended to include male guards, sanitary napkins and the like articles, and is particularly intended to cover male guards having elasticized side flaps containing uniquely placed elastic members with a view toward preventing or minimizing fluid leakage off the pad.
Effective fluid containment in absorbent pads such as, for example, male guards, have been a persistent problem for incontinent persons. In particular, fluid side leakage have been extremely difficult to prevent or minimize when such pads are used by incontinent persons. Typically, these pads are defined by longitudinal and transverse axis, and comprise opposite longitudinal end edges and opposite lateral or side edges between the longitudinal end edges, a backsheet, a liquid permeable topsheet layer disposed on the backsheet, and an absorbent assembly, (core or layer) sandwiched between the backsheet layer and the topsheet. In order to prevent or minimize fluid leakage from the pad several approaches have been suggested in a variety of prior art patents. Some have employed thick absorbent layers for longer fluid retention. Others have incorporated so-called super-absorbent polymers (SAP) in the absorbent layer designed to absorb and retain fluid therein for a sufficient time until the absorbent pad is removed, disposed of and replaced with a fresh pad. Still others have proposed providing the pad with side flaps, including elasticized side flaps in order to control or eliminate side leakage which has been a particularly difficult problem to control in most pads. One early patent which addressed fluid side leakage in absorbent pads is U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,177 issued Oct. 20, 1987 to Ellis et al. This patent discloses curved elongated absorbent pad shaped as an hourglass having a narrower middle portion which is thicker than the end portions of the pad. In a preferred structure, the pad has a backing sheet which extends beyond the absorbent pad and has side edges forming flaps in the narrow region, the flaps being elasticized to gather the flaps and raising them to form a wall on each side of the narrow region of the absorbent pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,162 issued Feb. 21, 1995 to Widlund et al. describes incontinence guards which comprise an elongated absorbent pad and flexible side flaps disposed at the long side edges of the pad. The flexible side flaps are foldable around the edges of the pad when the article is worn.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,800 issued Sep. 22, 1998 describes an incontinence device comprising a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet, an absorbent core therebetween and a pair of longitudinally extending elasticized cuffs disposed on the body surface of the topsheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,290 B1 issued Jan. 9, 2001 to Boisse et al. describes incontinence guards and contains a brief discussion of efforts made by others to improve fluid containment in diapers, guards and sanitary napkins. This patent describes an absorbent article comprising a liquid permeable cover sheet, a liquid repellent barrier sheet, an absorbent layer disposed between said cover sheet and barrier sheet, a pair of side flanges and a pair of elastically extensible element each operatively connected to a side flange.
In a recent patent, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,765 B1 issued Nov. 13, 2001 to Datta et al. the patentees describe an elasticized absorbent pad, which includes “guards”, used for urinary incontinence. According to this patent, the performance of the pads is enhanced by providing the pads with more effective elasticized side flaps. Several embodiments are described which basically include elasticized side flaps adapted to impart a “bucket shape” to the pad during its use.
Other incontinence guards are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,724 issued to Fransson et al. on Dec. 11, 2001 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,950 B1 issued Apr. 16, 2002 to Roslansky et al.
The aforementioned patents which are by no means exhaustive, represent the efforts by developers for providing incontinence guards which are free from fluid leakage, especially side leakage from the article. Notwithstanding these efforts, there is till a dire need for leak-proof male guards for use by incontinent persons, without sacrificing comfort to the wearer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an absorbent pad which, due to its unique construction and configuration, exhibits improved fluid containment capability when used by incontinent persons.
It is also an object of this invention to provide such an absorbent pad which is designed to prevent or minimize side leakage of fluid from the pad due to fluid surge or fluid insult experienced by an incontinent person wearing the pad.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an absorbent pad, in particular male guards, having the foregoing features without sacrificing comfort to the wearer.
The foregoing and other features and improved attributes of the absorbent pads of the present invention will be comprehended from the ensuing detailed description and the accompanying drawings. Throughout the present application the term “absorbent pad” as used herein is intended to include sanitary napkins and the like articles, especially male guards.